R.E.A.L. Projects for Students
REAL Projects has been canceled for fall 2023 but will return in spring 2024. Stay tuned for details.
What are R.E.A.L. Projects?
Real Experience Applied Learning
R.E.A.L. Projects consist of interdisciplinary student teams working on a semester-length project submitted by companies and organizations interested in working with WSU students.
R.E.A.L. Projects are 3 credit-hour classes, which
allows students to remain on campus, while working for companies that could be located anywhere in the U.S. or around the world. Students will meet in class for half the semester, but mostly will work outside of class with a team to get the project done (7-9 hours a week, making this experience literally an internship on campus).
Benefits Of Participating
These projects will require that students work together as a team with other students of differing skill sets in an effort to produce results and deliverables for the company sponsoring your projects. You will be asked to do things you may not have done before, which will require skills you may not have... yet.
- Explore career options
- Build up your resume
- Apply classroom learning
- Prepare for graduate school
- Network
- Gain valuable skills
Expectations
- Register for UNIV 4920 for 3 credits (you do not need to be an honors student to register)
- Complete an interest survey and submit your resume to help us match you with a project (link will be sent after you register for the course)
- Attend all scheduled classes
- Meet with your team regularly (at least once a week)
- Coordinate with the company sponsor regularly (at least once a week)
- Complete team evaluations and other course assignments
- Be professional in communication and presentation and be dependable
Types of Projects
The type of work students will be doing depends on the company sponsoring the project and what their needs are. A list of projects will be emailed to students after they register. The email will have the company name and a summary of the project. Students will be able to rank the projects according to their preference. R.E.A.L. Projects faculty will assign you to a project and a team. Students won't always get their most preferred project, but faculty will do their best to accommodate requests.
Possible Projects Categories:
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**Stay Tuned for Spring 2024 Projects**
Past Projects:
Market Research | Publishing Company
- Project team conducted a S.W.O.T. analysis of new markets for the company to expand into, and created a launch/marketing packet for potential clients in those new markets.
Digital Resource Guide | Government
- Project team created a website to house collected resource information for furloughed employees affected by government shutdowns.
Training Content and Video | On-Campus University Employee
- Project team developed an information brochure to help educate new volunteers, and created a video to help train them.
Corporate Wellness Program | Pharmacy
- Project team developed a 4-fold comprehensive wellness program, which included a couch to 5k, book club, passive incentives, and a wellness recognition wall.
COVID-19 Community Resource Website | Government
- A continuation of a previous digital resource project, project team modified and updated a community resource website with information for those affected by COVID-19.
App Development | On-Campus University Employee
- Market research was conducted to collect information for the design of an app which would allow hikers to donate to hiking trail upkeep as well as report trail status.
Market Research | Community Newspaper
- Conducted market research for a community newspaper and created recomendations for a media kit to be used by the newspaper to expand its market penetration.
Strategic Audit / Marketing Recommendations | Education
- The project team conducted research on the needs of the Davis School District and how best to encourage greater participation from students in their CTE programs.
Motion Sensor Coding | Education
- The project team created several math-based games to teach high school students velocity and positioning in an interactive way.
Brochure & Training | Community Non-Profit
- The project team has created a brochure, along with a training video in both Spanish and English for neighborhood block captains in the downtown Ogden area.
Website Design & Implementation | University & Government
- The project team has created a new website designed to assist WSU students in securing employment with HAFB. They researched and gathered various resources to include in the website.
Translation Guides | Religious Organization
- The project team created various translation guides of talks given by church leadership, as well as guides for the church hymnal. These Guides will be used to assist the church translation team in translating the content into numerous languages.
Hear from students who have taken the class!
“In the beginning, our class was a bunch of undergraduates who didn’t know what they were getting into, and by the end of it, we had website designers, app designers, researchers, program builders, artists, and lots of other skills come through the woodworks. It truly was a pleasure to be in the class and gain skills you can’t in a traditional classroom or internship.”
Jeffrey Burnett (Business Administration)
"I would definitely recommend this course. I was super stoked to be able to take an honors course that was gonna allow me more freedom to personally work creatively and get to develop those skills that you wouldn't necessarily learn in a classroom setting and learn how to be professional and hold yourself accountable and kind of set up your own name. So, I would definitely recommend it!"
Olivia Boer (Undeclared Major)
“What I thought would be a class I would take to check a box, became a wonderful opportunity to develop new skills, to meet new people, and prove to myself I have the skills to succeed.”
James Rhodes (Anthropology Major)
“I recommend this course to all students, but specifically to any student with limited resources, because they also deserve the opportunities that many times only privilege allows.”
Jacquelin Molina Guillen (English Major)
“Overall, this class was definitely one I will never forget. To work so passionately on something; to see your work progress and come to fruition; and to see the end result, knowing that it is having an immediate impact on your community is certainly rewarding and fulfilling.”
Daniel Barrack (MIS Major)